National Football League

Buccaneers lose by winning: Draft's top pick remains in sight

Published Dec. 21, 2014 6:45 p.m. ET

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TAMPA, Fla. -- They have one final hurdle to clear, the prize glistening on the horizon to provide the lone light in a dark and dreary December.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been so terrible. They have been so miserable. They have been at times a car wreck and, on other occasions, a locomotive screaming down a mountain without a conductor. At last, there's a reward waiting for them in Week 17.

The draft's top pick is there for the taking.

A quarterback. An offensive tackle. A trade to gain more selections and build for the future.

Whatever would happen, the possibilities with the No. 1 pick tempt the imagination. Gaining the slot could serve as a pivot point for a franchise starving from a lack of hope. Dream away.

They handled their business Sunday by allowing the Green Bay Packers to sweep them aside 20-3 at Lambeau Field South, er, Raymond James Stadium. The Bucs were in fine form when, halfway through the second quarter, they were without a single yard of total offense or a first down. Aaron Rodgers, who had the flu throughout last week and played with a strained calf sustained early in the first quarter, still ripped Tampa Bay for 318 yards and one touchdown on 31-of-40 passing. The Packers outgained the Bucs' alleged offense 431 yards to 109.

"This is where we are right now," Bucs coach Lovie Smith said. "We're not always going to be down like this. Yeah, with one game left, we can't change it all overnight, and I can't change exactly why we're here. We are here, but we won't be always."

Oh, embrace the present. The Bucs won by losing.

No sane person thought they would shock the NFL world and beat the Packers. The thousands upon thousands of Green Bay fans who painted Raymond James Stadium green and gold left happy, pillaging the Bucs' home like it was a bratwurst buffet.

Listen to Smith speak about how better days are ahead. Listen to Josh McCown speak about how the Bucs are hunkering down to offer their best in the season finale against the New Orleans Saints next Sunday. Listen to defensive tackle Clinton McDonald speak about how these miserable hours will make the Bucs stronger.

Words, words, words.

Tampa Bay, its fan base exhausted and exasperated, needs hope, hope, hope.

"There are things that you're learning when you're fighting through this," McCown said. "And it's not fun. And nobody would ever choose this. But you just can't close your eyes to it and just get it over with. You can't do that. ... You've got to find the good in it somehow."

The good may be on its way.

One more step back left.

Hope will come in the largest supply if the Bucs lose next week, finish 2-14 and receive help. The best-case scenario includes the Titans topping the Indianapolis Colts or, if Tennessee loses, Tampa Bay finishing ahead in the strength-of-schedule tussle. This tortoise race could be close. Entering Sunday, Tampa Bay had a .470 SOS and Tennessee a .484 SOS.

Watching Sunday's folly was Exhibit A why the Bucs need the decimal points to break their way and win the top pick. McCown has been awful. The running game has been invisible. (The Packers owned the NFL's 27th-ranked rush defense but allowed just 16 yards on the ground.) Yet, those developments stem from a poor offensive line, which allowed seven sacks Sunday.

Talk about a headache. Talk about an enigma.

There are no simple solutions. The No. 1 selection won't solve all of the Bucs' problems. There's no single elixir for their ills. Not Marcus Mariota, Jameis Winston or a stud left offensive tackle.

The Bucs are more developed on defense, but even that side of the ball could use better play at end and in the secondary. Who knows what Smith and general manager Jason Licht would do with the draft's largest jewel in their palms?

But Sunday, there was a true Bucs victory. They remain in the conversation for the No. 1 pick, a loss against the Saints next Sunday placing them in a position to enjoy the NFL's largest silver lining of all.

An upset over the Packers would have been fleeting satisfaction. After Bucs fans finished asking themselves, "How the heck did that happen?" they would have said, "Why?"

First there would have been confusion, then disappointment.

"It's going to make us realize where we were," McDonald said of the current struggle, "and it's going to make us realize where we want to be."

Fear not, the Bucs are right where they should want to be to snatch the top pick. Thirteen losses down, one to go.

A true reward remains in sight.

You can follow Andrew Astleford on Twitter @aastleford or email him at aastleford@gmail.com.

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